Before writing anything i must say i am apolitical by nature but regularly follow news of all parties . As such all parties have flaws and multiple issues. This article is aimed at TMC just because they are in position of power and can with little earnestness make necessary changes to bring in more industries , generate more jobs and help uplift the state of bengal which badly needs industries and jobs. Given that many of my relatives in villages of bengal still are searching for jobs and see no change inspite of change in government . Their state and as a mba student myself I find this attitude of the government very alarming and not ideal for the state at large. Although yes TMC has come after a prolonged rule of CPIM and hence perhaps deserve a little longer time to prove itself . However ,this article is more or less aimed to point out follies of the parties manifesto.
In general ,the difference between verbal assurance and reality can be very stark at times , more so when party leaders themselves fail to realize the gross difference between what they promise and the logical contradictions that underlying those promises . The biggest problem that westbengal as a state is quite frustratingly facing for quite some time now is precisely the after effects of the afore stated syndrome. The poll promises from TMC has always been the following : holistic development of the state , upliftment of aam aadmi (mango people) , fight price rise , ensure a large number of jobs, to take action in case of corruption , to protect labour from exploitation . Well if u look at the ambit of these promises it more or less covers everything Now starts the contradictions. To ensure holistic development one needs FDI , FII and state investment from its public exchequer as well. The problem with Westbengal (which some attribute to Maxist mis management and corruption)is that the state exchequer is almost empty ( as quoted by Mamata Banerjee herself in one of her election rallies in 2014 ) . Now that leaves us with FDI and FII . Now for FDI or FII to happen the business climate has to be conducive which is again far from reality as there are continuous threats of strike and a bulk of it supported by the state as part of its election poll manifesto.
In Westbengal unlike many states the education sector too has been politicized by various parties through their student federations like SFI , TMC Youth Congress. Apart from having active TU federations of various parties like CITU and INTUC there is TMC federations too. Now it is job for TU to protect the workers in case of any faulty action by the employer but because of large scale competition between TUs to maintain its base of workers ,it often uses its ambit of powers for making unfair demands like raising daily wage rates , asking for holidays and threatening employers with strike in case of non conformance to their demands. The youth federations also add to the climate by organizing road rallies ( causing transport blockages)and call for general strikes on working days causing losses to industries and trade and commerce in general . The violence during these strikes is also an active deterrent for many to actually fulfill their daily job responsibilities even if he or she is wiling. Now all this is perfectly all right and is a color able exercise which perfectly goes with the wide ambit of the election manifesto but then it fails to actually project the state as an industry destination.
Unlike in case of developed states like Gujrat where strikes are a rarity ( although labour laws may not be that strong ) leading to preponderance of industries and generation of jobs in mass scale, here in WestBengal the problem persisted and the wind of change nullified to nothing . The wind of change that the residents expected by voting the communists out of power unfortunately lost its air and dashed against the rocks of self conservative political consciousness wherein the party does undertake those policies which helps protect its base even though it may not lead to development of the state or generation of jobs.
What is very very disappointing is that the direct and obvious contradiction of ushering in investors and enforcing labour laws is completely unnoticed by TMC think tank. It blatantly fails to realize that you cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound. Anti industry comments , the singur episode are not just slurs but are active deterrent for any who wish to come here. Given that the vote bank is heavily loaded with workers and students , the TMC is obviously turning a blind eye at this contradiction however as a poll manifesto speaking of development to blunt the weapon of other political parties under the premise that see we also are providing development and that is more sustainable. However , in effect net rate of growth is too slow , most projects unfinished and effect job creation near 0%. While there is no ideal way to run a state .Recently the news of Mamata wanting TMC to be a national party came to light alongside Anna Hazare deserting her. Well i think being national and having national ambition is not bad but one should develop the state first. One should understand that given the depleting wealth status of bengal and it being now compared to poorest states like orissa is badly damaging for the people of state themselves. They all want change . They want true change rather. They want that change to touch them. They want that change bring new dimensions in their lives. They want leaders who can decide and take active tangible steps . They want those people to be logically sound and come over this contractions. They want a truely holistic development. But apart from the criticism i would definitely accolade her for her progressive role of enhancing art and cinema through various steps . Mamata Banerjee’s corruption free image true is rare in politics .